Tougher standards for fueling large boats and barges could be on the way as a result of the 6,000-gallon fuel oil spill that occurred in waters just off Edmonds on Dec. 30.
Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, said he will introduce legislation in the upcoming session that, at minimum, will require booms to be used when large boats are fueled on Puget Sound. The legislative session opens Monday.
A boom is a floating pontoonlike device that keeps spilled fuel — which floats on top of the water — in one area until it can be cleaned up.
Seattle-based Foss Maritime put booms in place within minutes of the Dec. 30 oil spill, but 4,800 gallons of fuel still escaped into Puget Sound.
The use of booms isn’t currently required in Washington waters, although some routinely use booms, including the U.S. Navy.
"I think we should be booming," said Cooper, chairman of the Fisheries, Ecology and Parks Committee, which on Thursday will hold a public hearing on Puget Sound oil spills. "I’m convinced that it’s the right thing to do."
Tougher standards could have protected Doe-Keg-Wats Marsh, a sensitive wetland on the Suquamish Indian Reservation across the Puget Sound where most of the spilled oil ended up.
Using booms "is something that seems like it should just be a given," said Rob Purser, the tribe’s fisheries director. "We’re realizing now that it’s going to take several years to get it back to where it was — if ever."
Tribal members harvest geoducks, clams and crab from waters just off the wetlands, and the marsh itself is used to gather plants for medicinal and religious purposes.
Now, subsistence fishing can no longer occur for an unknown length of time.
Foss Maritime will do whatever is necessary to clean up the fuel and is willing to listen to any rule changes that make sense, said Joe Langjahr, a spokesman for the company, which operates tugs and barges all along the West Coast.
According to those involved in the cleanup, Foss Maritime acted quickly and appropriately to contain the oil after the spill occurred.
Still, the fact that so much oil was able to escape is a warning sign that the rules need to be tightened so a bigger spill doesn’t occur, said Bruce Wishart, policy director for People for Puget Sound.
"We have species teetering on the edge of extinction right now," Wishart said. "A major spill could be catastrophic. We could lose our resident orca populations and all of our salmon runs."
Cooper plans legislation that would require booms, but he said he will wait until after next week’s hearing to decide what other regulations should be included in the proposed bill.
Possible additions could include a requirement for a shutoff valve that stops the flow of oil once a barge or tug is filled. Another possible restriction could be to require added employees to monitor fueling.
Efforts to clean up the fuel are now focusing on the tribal wetlands, where 70 people have been trying to remove oil that washed up on beaches, said Larry Altose, a spokesman for the state Department of Ecology.
The number of people involved in the cleanup is being scaled back to 30 and will be scaled back further as the amount of oil that can be removed drops off, he said.
Two birds are still being treated for exposure to the oil, and 10 oil-related bird deaths have been confirmed. At least one harbor seal was killed by the oil .
Reporter Lukas Velush:
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